Prosecutors cross-examine Robert Telles in murder trial over reporter’s killing

A prosecutor ended his cross-examination of former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles by showing the defendant a simple text message, sent from his wife’s Apple watch.

“Where are you?” Telles’ wife texted him the morning Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German was killed.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner questioned Telles for over two hours on Thursday during Telles’ murder trial. Prosecutors have accused Telles of killing German on Sept. 2, 2022, over articles the journalist had written about Telles’ conduct as an elected official.

The cross-examination ended shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday. The trial is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Friday, when Telles will have a chance to give re-direct testimony. Prosecutors will have the opportunity to ask Telles follow-up questions and call rebuttal witnesses before going into closing arguments.

Hamner peppered Telles with a series of rapid-fire questions, the prosecutor sometimes pacing in front of the jury box and gesturing to images on the screen. A few times, when Telles tried to give longer answers, Hamner told him to “focus on my question.”

Telles claimed that evidence was planted on his phone and in his house. He said police officers may have manipulated evidence, and he said he did not know how his own DNA got underneath German’s fingernails.

Claims he was framed

As he has long suggested, Telles told jurors that he was framed in German’s killing after he investigated an alleged housing kickback scheme involving probate court.

“So your theory is that Jeff German is collateral damage?” Hamner asked.

“You know when you take into account the fact that months earlier we had this public feud, it’s a pretty convenient way to do this,” Telles said.

“So the guy who writes the articles that ends your career, they award him by killing him?” Hamner asked.

Prosecutors have said that for several hours before and after German was killed, Telles’ phone remained at his house and did not send outgoing messages. Telles claimed he was home that day, and that he had gone for a walk, but was getting back to his house at 10:36 a.m., when his wife texted him a photo.

Telles told Hamner he did not delete any messages off of his phone. Then Hamner showed him photographs of a message from his wife’s Apple watch, sent shortly after her initial message, when she asked about Telles’ location. Telles furrowed his brow and frowned when he viewed the photographs.

Hamner questioned Telles about how the message was not on his phone, and how a phone’s owner can delete text messages. For his last question in cross-examination, Hamner asked if Telles would have been unable to answer his wife’s message if he had left his phone at home.

“If in fact that was the case, if in fact I left my phone at home, sure, yes,” Telles said.

Deputy DA pushes back

In other parts of Telles’ testimony, he admitted to lying to German in an interview when he denied having an “inappropriate” relationship with an employee, Roberta Lee-Kennett.

“We had a romantic affair with each other,” Telles said.

Hamner tried poking holes in Telles’ claim he was framed, asking him why those involved in the alleged conspiracy didn’t plant German’s DNA on his car, or plant the assailant’s distinct orange vest at his house, or plant the murder weapon for police to find.

“Even though, according to you, they control everything, they don’t put the murder weapon on you?” Hamner asked. “Does that make any sense?”

“I think it does,” Telles said.

Telles told Hamner that he believed German was killed in a professional hit, even after Hamner pointed out the assailant’s behavior — walking around in a noticeable hat in the middle of the day and returning to the scene moments after German was killed. Telles said the person was trying to frame him.

Hamner also attacked Telles’ assertion that his car was not the same car used by the assailant. Telles agreed under cross-examination that his car had the same wheel spokes and tinted window pattern as the assailant’s car.

When Hamner had asked Telles if the assailant appeared “amateurish,” Telles responded by saying: “I would like to think that I wouldn’t use my own car if I was actually the person that did this.”

Before he was subject to cross-examination, Telles gave his own testimony for over 90 minutes on Wednesday, and just under an hour on Thursday, without being interrupted by questions from his attorney. Veteran lawyers said that the type of testimony, known as testimony by narration, is an unusual move for defendants.

Telles closed his narration on Thursday, which was occasionally interrupted by objections from prosecutors, with a statement that reflected the start of his testimony.

“I can’t imagine the kind of person that would” he said before District Judge Michelle Leavitt sustained an objection from prosecutors.

Telles tried to repeat himself, saying “I personally can’t imagine myself to be the kind of person.” But that statement was cutoff by an objection.

“I am not the kind of person who would stab someone,” he said

“The objection was sustained,” the judge said.

“OK,” Telles continued. “I have never beat anybody up. I’ve never killed anybody. I didn’t kill Mr. German. And that’s my testimony.”

For a moment, Telles remained seated in the witness box, staring down with his chin resting on a closed left fist, his other hand flipping through papers in front of him.

Narration testimony

Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, told the Review-Journal on Wednesday that Telles “wanted to relay his version of the events,” but he declined to comment when asked why Telles testified by way of narration.

Much of Telles’ testimony on Wednesday focused on the alleged housing kickback scheme he reported to Las Vegas police when Telles was the public administrator.

“It’s a day I’ve been waiting for for nearly two years,” Telles said at the start of his testimony. “This thing’s been kind of a nightmare, frankly. … Right now I want to say unequivocally: I’m innocent. I didn’t kill Mr. German. And I’ve got a lot to share with you all.”

Prosecutors rested their case on Monday after calling 28 witnesses over the course of four days of testimony. Draskovich has called six witnesses, including Telles.

The state’s evidence against Telles includes his DNA found underneath German’s fingernails, and surveillance footage of the assailant’s vehicle that matches the description of a car registered to Telles’ wife.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.